Device for picking up messages from moving trains and the like



0a. 30, 1951 W.-J. AULTZ r 2,573,298

DEVICE FOR PICKING UP MESSAGES FROM MOVING TRAINS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 18, 1949 INVENTOR. fl aL/A/v f flu; 72

Patented Oct. 30, 1951 DEVICE FOR RIEHIING URMESSAGES FROM MOVING TRAINS AND THE LIKE William 1 sum, Qrertqn, Ne n.

Application November 18, 1949, Serial No. 128,033

2 ass-32 My invent n rela es. to. a. d vice icr: us

pick u Inessesesand the l ke whiletreye zihg hspe pon a rain or he. lik

A. primar ob ect. 9i iBYQ lI'iQ L tQ preside. a. device for pick n up. m ssa es e e raph op rators. or sta ion a nts by the en neer trainman of a moving train.

a. fur her objec is, o pro ide device oi th shave-mention d character w ich. w ll eliminat th liabillt Qt nterrto the arms an hands of;

durin he p c in p Q me s e her b ect is to pro de. a de ice.- orse n P ck n p messa e wh e t v lin sthieh eee 1.1 1. a ain, t oi he. e ice: makingit. hi y, imp b b tha e r i s esev will be-irii se l,v es requ t yoccurs. when the tr man a tempts top ck. upthemessag by and.-

A ur objec is o provide a. m s age; pick: up devi e. hi i y sa e for both t e tr inthan or g n r nd t egr ph, Qn r ter o gent. invo ye n. the t an ie g of. the message.

A further object is to provide a message pick 9 d i e, r use. by ra n hen, id device being designed. particula y for use wi h st ndard sage delivery forksalready in wide use.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a pick-up device of the above-mentioned character which is highly simplified, light, strong and dura le, a eap to manufa ture,

Other objects and advantages of, the invention w be are tdu ine he c s cf. h following description.

In thev accompanying drawings forming a part of. this application, and, in. which like numerals are. employed to designate, like parts throughout the same:-

Figure l is-a perspective view ofa message pickup. device. embodying my invention and. showing thause of the same in. conjunction. with a standard type message delivery fork;

Figure 2 is a central, vertical, longitudinal section through the pick-up device, parts broken away, and part in elevation; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal, transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

In the drawings, where, for the purpose of illustration, is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral I designates generally' a standard type message delivery fork, such as disclosed by United States Patent No. 1,902,669. The delivery fork l0 comprises a handle II and two diverging fork arms l2 connected with the handle by means of a sheet metal coupling member l3. The fork arms I2 are provided in their free ends with narrow slots I 4 for receiving there- 2-. sectiens or a. closed loop or string t5 having-r e telee-ramor messa e. Hi; secur d. thereto,v Secured: to. the couplin member is is. a. leaf spring It for a n ce y en a ing a tall or extension I8 or the strnz. 1.001 The lo p I5 is. thus. detachable he by-thedel-iuery icrls m in such amanner: that s r spe a d. pulled bodily from. he delurk, t et er w th the. mes age, I6... In re en day pra tice. it; is customary for the ensineer or trainman, traveling at high speed, toinse rt h shsn nd arm t rqu hthe loop. is, wh le the; am s held y t e to -k; ll. The rainmarrs arm. t us. engag d hroheh. h l opv l5. pulls the le r rom. he f rk l0; og ther: w th. the messa e Hi; Frequently, the rai-nman stri es. is ha d or knuckl s agai st t e arm if? or some oth r part. o e fo UL, nju ng, hem.-

erder to. overcome this difiiculty-i an a s t make it hi hl mh chab that. a messa e held, b he rk. Hi

will be missed, I provide a pic eup e ic or useby he t ain an r ng neer,

eral y y th n m ra 9.-

Th p ck-up de i e 1,9. com-pr ses a. s a ht. od

or shank preferably formed of aluminum tr p:

an designated; en-

= ing, and bent at its outer end. o o m a lar e,

rectangular, p n. 01! 2'; adapted 119 .311%, 5. handle. T e.- pposit toward end of therei- ZJI. is externally screw-threaded s s own at Hr. tor receiv g seme- Of h 11s Z-t f; n. axially extend ng, r trac il eeilspri 24. The sprin 24. pr ject r-end thescre -thre dedend 0f: shank or red as sh wnin Fi ure r-. The. coils Of" t e spring h ch: en ag up n the screw thr aded end. are u de tension, a d. serve. to ecur fas en th sp n 3 to the rod 20., so that it, ll. not become accidentally disconnected from the rod.

A. m l, sh et metal cup; 2.5 receives s of he; end cpilsfi or the pr within it. a d may be brazed or otherwise permanently secured to the outer end of the spring. Permanently secured to the side of the cup 25 by brazing, welding or the like are four angularly equidistantly spaced sprin arms 26. The arms 26 are preferably formed of spring steel, or the like, and comprise generally longitudinally extending, somewhat diverging, substantially straight portions 21 which lie adjacent to and spaced radially from the spring 24, Figure 2. The sprin arms 26 are arranged apart, Figure 3, and extend generally longitudinally inwardly about the rod 20. Adjacent to the inner end of the spring 24, the spring arms are bent to form radially inwardly projecting extensions or ribs 28 which are resiliently biased into contact with the periphery biased ribs 28 will readily move out of contact with the periphery of the spring 24;

In use, the engineer or trainman grasps th handle 2| of the message pick-up device and extends the elongated rod or shank 2H longitudi-r nally beyond his hand. At this time, the train may be traveling at high speed. The telegraph operator or station agent stands beside the track with the message delivery fork ID in his hand, the handle ll of the message delivery fork being held. The end of the rod 20 having the sprin arms 26 attached thereto is inserted by the trainman or engineer into the string loop IS. The rod 20 may either be inserted longitudinally or axially through the loop E5, or the forward side of the loop extended between the fork arms l2 may be snagged at any angle by the pick-up device.

When the string loop [5, which is under some tension, is engaged by the rod or shank 29, the side or strand of the string loop moves longitudinally along the rod 2n toward the spring arms 26. When the string loop engages any one of the 1 spring arms 26 by contact with either the extension 30 or the diverging portion 29, the rib 28 of that spring arm will be shifted radially outwardly of the spring 24 and the side of the string loop will enter the longitudinal space between the extension 21 and the side of the spring 24. As the train travels forwardly, the string loop 15 so held will :be pulled bodily from the delivery fork l0 and held by the spring arm 26. Once any one of the spring arms 26 has thus engaged the string loop l5 and pulled the same from the delivery fork I0, it is substantially impossible for the string loop to be disengaged from the message pick-up device I9 until the engineer or trainman removes it. The device is very light, highly port beside the railroad track, such as a crane or the like, instead of messages held by the station agent or telegraph operator, using the delivery fork l0. Likewise, the device IB'may be secured to the side of the engine, caboose or any part of the train, in the proper location to pick up the message held by the side of the track.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A message pick-up device, comprising an elongatedsubstantially straight rod, a loop secured to the rod near one end thereof and adapted to serve as a handle, a longitudinally extending coil spring secured to the opposite end of the rod and projecting axially beyond such endof the rod, and a plurality of angularly spaced longitudinally inwardly extending sprin arms securedto the coil spring and including generally radially outwardly projecting extensions adapted to snag the message for securing the message to the rod.

2. A message pick-up device, comprising a substantially straight elongated rod, a loop secured to the rod near one end thereof and adapted to serve as a handle, a coil sprin secured to the opposite'end of the rod and extending axially beyond such end of the rod, and a plurality of angularly spaced longitudinally inwardly extending spring arms secured to the coil spring, thespring arms being bent between their ends-to form radially inwardly projecting gripping ribs resiliently biased into contact with the side of the coil spring, the spring arms being further bent longitudinally inwardly of the gripping ribs to form generally radially extending portions adapted to snag the message and causing said gripping ribs to shift away from contact with the spring when engaged by the message.

' WILLIAM J. AULTZ.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 736,361 Campbell Aug. 18, 1903 866,213 Neel Sept. 17, 1907 1,021,745 Rolfe Mar. 26, 1912 1,363,366 Smith Dec. 28, 1920 1,737,326 Armand Nov. 26, 1929 1,902,669 Shepherd Mar. 21, 1933 

